How to fix Galaxy A5 (2017) that stops charging and won’t turn on after installing an app

There are many causes why an Android device suddenly stops charging or won’t power on at all. In today’s troubleshooting article, we bring you another case about a Galaxy A5 failing to charge or turn on after an app was installed. Whether the main cause is the app itself or something else is for a user to know. Our role is to provide the set of troubleshooting steps to guide him or her.

My Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) phone was working perfect until i download an app called Velociraptor which helps to convert kilometers to miles to aid the navigation. after a day i noticed after using the navigation when the phone was not in use, the phone was very hot. i turned off the new app.next day i used the phone for navigation and the phone heated up again. after some time the phone turned off by itself and couldn’t charge or turn on anymore. what could be the possible cause? it it a repairable damage? Please advise. Thanks.

Solution: We checked many reviews about this app in Google Play Store but can’t find any report similar to your case. The problem on your phone may be have occured coincidentally after installing the app, which means there’s already a developing issue even before the app was installed, or that there’s a recent coding bug in the Velociraptor app that needs to be addressed. Right now, what you want to do is to check whether or not you are able to power the phone back on. If you can do that, then that’s the time that you do follow up troubleshooting to check for the possibility if it’s an app problem.

Forced reboot

This should be the first troubleshooting step that you want to do. A normal restart may not work in your current phone state so you want to simulate a “battery pull” effect. Here’s how to do that:

Press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds or until the device power cycles. Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.

From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot. You can use the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (below the volume buttons) to select. Wait for up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

Charge using another set of cable and adapter

In case there’s a problem with the current charging accessories, what you want to do next is to try a new set of charger and USB cable. If possible, use only official and known working Samsung cable and adapter. If you can’t borrow them, visit your local Samsung store and try to see if you can charge your phone there.

Clean the charging port

If your phone is regularly exposed to elements (dust, water, heat, etc), dirt, debris, moisture, or liquid may get collected in the charging port. Over time, these foreign objects may block the charging cable and lead to power and charging problems. Try to check the port for obvious signs of damage and dirt. If you think it needs cleaning, use a can of compressed air. Do not stick anything inside to avoid damaging the system.

Charge with a computer

Some users were able to turn on their Android devices by charging them in a computer. If you haven’t tried this, be sure to do so. It’s easy, simple to do and won’t take a lot of effort. Be sure to let your phone charge for at least 30 minutes before attempting to turn it back on.

Check the screen

If your phone still shows signs of life and not totally dead, the problem is most probably screen related. If the device still rings when you call your number, or makes a sound when there’s incoming message or notification, your Galaxy A5 is not dead. It may have a screen issue and that’s what you want to address next.

Restart to alternate boot modes

If the phone is not totally dead but the screen stays black all the time, there’s a chance that a software bug may be preventing the screen from working normally on regular mode. To check if that’s the case, try to see if the screen works on either Recovery Mode or Download Mode. These are two separate software environments that work independently of Android. If an operating system bug is behind the problem, the screen should still work if you load Recovery or Download Mode.

How to boot a Galaxy A5 to Recovery Mode

Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.

Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.

If you’re lucky and the green Android logo shows up, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).

In Recovery mode, you can do a factory reset to fix the software bug. If the screen stays black, try booting to Download Mode.

How to boot a Galaxy A5 to Download Mode

Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.

Press and hold the Volume Down key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.

You’ll know if you’re on Download Mode when you see a screen that says “Downloading….” If the screen works in Download Mode only, you can try to flash the stock firmware to fix the problem. Find a good guide on how to do it on your device.

What to do if phone turns back on

If the Galaxy A5 powers comes alive after doing any of the troubleshooting steps above, make sure to check if the problem was originally caused by the Velociraptor app. Erase it and observe the phone for a few days. If it starts working normally again without the said app in the system, then that’s a clear indicator that that app is the culprit.

Alternatively, you can try to restart your A5 to safe mode and see what happens. Safe Mode blocks all downloaded apps. If your phone works fine on safe mode, then one of your apps is causing the problem.

In case you don’t know how to restart the phone to safe mode:

Turn the device off.

Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.

When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.

Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.

Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.

Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.

Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

Boot to safe mode.

Check for the problem.

Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.

After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.

If your Galaxy A5 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

If Galaxy A5 won’t turn back on at all

Should nothing work and your A5 remains dead, you can assume that bad hardware is to blame. Contact Samsung to have your phone repaired or replaced.

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